


Not much more than a loincloth

by Shae_la_Hyene



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:35:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24869242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shae_la_Hyene/pseuds/Shae_la_Hyene
Summary: Lamen week day 3 : DisguiseDamen has infiltrated the Empress of Vask's harem undercover to try to catch the spy that is undermining their relationship with the empire, mostly to investigate where Laurent as an official guest can't go.But Laurent's plan is not as perfect as he thought it was, and they're running a bigger risk than they thought.
Relationships: Damen/Laurent (Captive Prince)
Kudos: 12
Collections: Lamen Week 2020





	Not much more than a loincloth

**Author's Note:**

> Posting it a little early, but technically we are 3 hours and 34 minutes into tomorrow and I don't want to have to upload it after I wake up.

“I think you look nice,” Laurent said after long minutes of Damen squirming in his fur loincloth. “At least vaskians have no taste for paint, that looks ridiculous on you.”  
Damen raised his head just enough to glare at him.  
“I can’t believe I agreed to follow your insane plans once again,” Damen groaned. “Why do I even do that ?”  
Laurent snorted.  
“Because you know, and I know, and everybody know, that my plans are the best and most of the time the only ones that actually accomplish anything.”  
Damen frowned.  
“I have had very good plans too ! And I stand on my beliefs : it would have been way more efficient to just go to the empress saying that they had spies and that it was putting everyone in danger ! But no. We followed your plan. And since we started lying to her, we can’t really call it off before we get the bloody proof and the head of said spies, or it will be our heads that’ll fall off, diplomatic incident or not !” Damen almost screamed.  
Laurent snorted.  
“You just never liked wearing loincloths. That is ridiculous, by the way, since you have no complaints wandering around naked.”  
“Laurent…” Damen threatened.  
“I’m working on it, alright ?” Laurent screamed back. “It’s a big court, and they’re all devious in ways I struggle to read and none of them would even trust me enough to talk about their nasty plans if I was at the other end of a full room ! And you’re not helping ! You’re literally in the underpants of the Vaskian court, can’t you just… listen ?”  
Damen crossed his arms on his chest.  
“You’re fooling yourself if you think that the harem members leave it for anything else than just pure sex. It is boring as fuck in here, and there is no revolution whisper lost in it. It’s just a bunch of guys training to look pretty and waiting to be called to fuck. This is not Vere and its pets !”  
Laurent sighed, rubbing the edge of his nose.  
“Fine, you’re right, I was… biased and maybe my plan had… flaws. But I’ll make it work, one way or another,” he said as calmly as possible.  
“Well you better do it quickly because I saw more than a few women eyeing me hungrily and I won’t be able to refuse them without blowing my cover completely !”  
A flame of jealousy and possessiveness bloomed in Laurent’s chest. As often, he tried to cover it with teasing.  
“Aw, afraid you wouldn’t do as well as last time when you fathered no less than three children in one night ?”  
Damen looked at him angrily, not buying it.  
“If I threaten you to actually sleep with the first that proposition me, will it make you solve this quicker ?”  
“You wouldn’t do it,” Laurent said with an assurance he didn’t really feel.  
“Find. That. Spy. Quickly,” said Damen between his teeth.  
Without another word, Laurent left the private room, and soon the harem itself, slipping back in his royal guest chambers, hopefully unnoticed. He didn’t get much sleep, the ideas of Damen rolling around with women coming back each time he closed his eyes.

He should have known better than hope…  
“You know, you don’t have to sneak around,” the Empress told him with a wicked smile. “If you wanted to enter my harem, you could have just asked. I’ll admit you have good taste with that one. But sneaking around doesn’t look very good when no one really trust a veretian here in the first place.”  
Damnit…  
“Thank you, Your Majesty, I didn’t mean to impose myself. I… trust you understand there is a matter of reputation that makes me ask for your discretion,” Laurent said slowly, weighting every word.  
The empress crooked an eyebrow.  
“I thought it was only sex with the opposite sex that was taboo in Vere ?”  
Laurent nodded.  
“It is, although everyone know of my… involvement with the King of Akielos. A lot of people think the alliance only rely on our exclusivity. It would look really bad if anyone thought that alliance was put in danger because I slept around.”  
The empress hummed.  
“I see,” she said, thoughtful. “Well, I suppose we should keep that to ourselves, shouldn’t we ?”  
Laurent nodded, with what he wanted to look like a relieved smile.  
And… now there would be gossips about him cheating on Damen. Great.  
He needed to behead this resistance fast before there were any more damage.

“You need to tell her the truth !” Damen said that night.  
Laurent crossed his arms on his chest.  
“Oh really ? You want us to go there, saying that we casually infiltrated her court and harem, exposing the flaws in her security, to debusk a resistance network for which we have no proof since we still didn’t manage to actually dig out, and that we’re very sorry and would like to leave, now ? Well no we’re not going to do that ! Believe it or not, I’m slightly nervous from the big cats.”  
Damen closed his eyes, and ran his hands over his face.  
“We could… leave discreetly…” he thought out loud.  
“Or right, us two, alone, in the vast empire, with the whole of Skarva at our heels, all the while ruining forever the relationships with the empress ? What a brilliant idea !”  
“We need to get out of here !” Damen shouted. “It’s a death trap, and all I have is a fucking loincloth. We’re apart most of the time, I can’t protect you ! Your plan failed, we need to figure out a better one !”  
“Oh a better one ? I wish I could have thought of that myself ! Well if you’re so good at plans, what do we do, now ?”  
“You’re going to make it MY fault now ?!” shouted Damen, indignant. “This is no more a joke or a game, we need to find a way out with both our heads where they belong. So find that fucking spy !”  
Laurent clenched his teeth. Their fear and anger couldn’t change anything : he did need that spy, those proofs to get out of that trap. And there was no other option.  
“I will,” he promised in a softer tone. “I have to.”  
He turned to leave again. They both needed to sleep at least a little that night.  
“By the way, there will be rumors that I’m cheating on Damianos running everywhere when we live. With you, don’t look so betrayed. So if you need an excuse to refuse someone, say you’re reserved for me.”

“Your Imperial Majesty,” started Laurent in his official voice. “You know I came here to discuss the peace between our nations. What you didn’t know was that I came out of confusion. See, I wanted to believe in your wish of friendship between Vask and our new empire. And, considering the good relationships I have had with the honorable women of Vask, I was of the assumptions that you wouldn’t say pretty words just to stab us in the back. But some of Vask’s actions seemed to contradict that good faith. A lot of our caravans were attacked or harassed by clans way our of your borders, and seemed to follow a coordinated pattern. I, too, came here in good faith, trying to untangle the truth and lies. I am sorry to be the bearer of such news, my Sister of Vask, but your power and control over your empire was being undermined and sabotaged. A rebellion was starting to take shape, starting right in that palace.  
I wish there were another way to find the root of it that wasn’t a deception in itself, but we had to.  
The King of Akielos is on his way from your harem, which he infiltrated to be able to uproot the head of the rebellion with conjoined efforts with mine.  
I am saddened to tell you it took us longer than planned to find it, for the traitor we were looking for is no one else than your Great Advisor. She is the head of the rebellion, and the one that is sending those ‘rogue’ clans attacking my people. I know you wouldn’t trust only my word so…”  
He made a gesture and Damen came in, still in his ridiculous loincloth, with a chest between his hands.  
“Here are the written proof of what we’re saying, Your Imperial Majesty,” Damen said in his deep, assured voice. “Letters from her subordinates, found literally under her bed.”  
“We are sorry to be the bearer of such news,” continued Laurent. “But be assured that our only wish is to keep our relationship at its best.”  
The empress looked at them both suspiciously, and Laurent forced himself not to look at the two cats nervously.  
“I see,” she said eventually. “So that was the root of all those secrets and snickering.”  
Laurent lowered his head in slight apology.  
Damen put the chest down where she could reach for it easily, looking regal and proud as always.  
“Well, those proofs and accusations will be studied meticulously, and my advisor will have to answer of them. But your implication in that matter stops there. I understand you thought well, but your ill placed mingling in the matter of the empire are very little appreciated. Now that I have all the informations, I can promise you to keep those clans in a tighter leach and they won’t bother you anymore. But for the rest, I’ll ask you to leave my court under short delays, as you are not exactly welcome at the moment. Once the matters will be taken care of, we may start our relationship from the beginning. But for now, you are better off in your own empire.”  
Both Laurent and Damen nodded quickly. They wanted to leave too.  
“Of course, Your Majesty,” said Damen, honest. “We will leave you promptly. Know that, for the little we saw of it, we found Skarva to be beautiful and strong, and something that we can only look up to. With all due respect…”  
With a final nod from the empress, they left the room and went straight to Laurent’s to pick up their clothes and men.  
“Can’t wait to wear my chiton again,” grumbled Damen, prompting a nervous laugh out of Laurent.  
“I told you it would work.”

**Author's Note:**

> Art by the wonderful, extraordinary, unexpected, Owen @leo-of-belgium !  
> Love you Nic


End file.
